Chance Sighting
by Skye
Summary: Upon further inspection, she was nothing like Aelita. Yumi/Taelia


_Notes: Where did this character go, anyway? Well, here's a rare pair for you. Fic also contains a bit of one-sided Yumi/Aelita._

**Chance Sighting**

Yumi was glad to be away from Kadic, for the weekend, anyway. It wasn't only the ever present threat of Xana attacks and large course load that exhausted her, but also the ever present drama. A weekend away from Ulrich's pining, Sissi's jealousy, and her own unrequited feelings was quite nice. Here she was just an anonymous stranger in the crowded mall, far away from her own issues.

Or not. Was that- Yumi turned around quickly, thinking she'd just caught sight of someone. But what would Aelita be doing here? Yumi ran after her, afraid there might have been a problem while she was gone after all. Aelita could be in trouble. But even so, what would she be doing here? And why wouldn't she have called her first?

Of course, it wasn't Aelita. Yumi couldn't help but feel disappointed as she finally caught up with the Aelita look-alike near a bookstore. It was Taelia, a girl who had attended Kadic in the past. Yumi recalled Jeremy's brief obsession with her and rolled her eyes, not believing that she'd made the same silly mistake as him. All logic said Aelita shouldn't be there, but Yumi had gone to lengths to fool herself into thinking maybe she was.

And yet, she wanted to see her, Yumi thought while looking at Taelia, picking out her every difference from the girl she wished she was. If only she could stop longing for Aelita. It wasn't going to happen for the two of them, not ever. It would mess up their friendships... That is, if Aelita ever liked her back, which she didn't. Aelita had chosen Jeremy. Yumi had given up, mainly because she didn't want to become like the endlessly jealous Sissi.

Yumi realized her mistake when Taelia came closer to her on her way out of the bookshop. By the time she thought to leave, or at least stop staring, the scowling Taelia had walked right up to her. "You're following me," she said.

"Yeah," Yumi admitted. "Sorry about that. It's just, you remind me a lot of someone I know." How stupid, Yumi thought to herself. She should just lie about it and leave. But now, she was stuck.

Or not. Taelia walked right past her. Yumi gave a slight sigh of relief, but then Taelia spoke again. "I got a lot of that, when I was still at Kadic, too." Yumi turned, to see Taelia had also turned and looked at her. "I guess you also know I her /I , whoever this girl is that looks so much like me."

Yumi nodded. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

"Why don't you walk with me, instead of stalking behind?" Taelia said.

"If... Well, okay," Yumi hesitantly agreed. She wasn't Aelita. Other than looks, she was nothing like Aelita. But her similarity had nothing to do with why Yumi was inclined to continue to follow her. She was still just an anonymous stranger.

"You also went to Kadic, didn't you?"

"Yeah... I still do. I'm just visiting around here," Yumi explained.

"I see," Taelia said. "And you followed me around, why?"

"I already told you."

"You could probably see that I wasn't I her /I right away, but you still kept staring at me. Why?"

"I already told you," Yumi said irritably, embarrassed.

"You kind of stared at me like he used to. That guy. Jeremy, his name was."

"He wouldn't any more," Yumi said before thinking.

"Good. I thought it was creepy."

"Sorry for being creepy," Yumi said, feeling embarassed.

"No. Not you," Taelia smirked, moving closer to Yumi.

Yumi looked at her, puzzled. It was almost as if... No, that couldn't be. But still, she felt more relaxed at this statement of Taelia's. Relaxed enough to share a little more. "He's got the real you now. I mean, the girl who looks like you."

"Oh? Lucky her," Taelia said sarcastically. "Except, she'd be a lot luckier if she chose you over him."

Yumi straightened up, and stared at Taelia with a shocked expression. How could she tell-

"Oh, come on. It's kind of obvious. I just wish I was still at Kadic. I could be your, well, your I her /I . Even if I'm not the real one, you might get used to me," Taelia said.

Yumi shook her head. "You don't have to be like anyone but yourself, Taelia." She was a lot more direct, a lot more coarser of a personality than Aelita, and for sure more perceptive, at least when it came to these kinds of things. But at that moment, Yumi decided that was the kind of person she needed. And the aesthetic similarities to Aelita? Well, they didn't hurt.

Yumi took Taelia's hand gently. "Does this mean you want to date me?" Taelia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Yumi nodded. She could be direct, when she wanted to. "I've got two hours. Why don't you tell me what you want to do?"


End file.
